Payroll for Medium-sized, Large Companies & SMEs
Whether you have 1 or well over 100 employees: cleverlohn handles your entire monthly payroll. With a dedicated payroll manager who knows your business, and an HR platform that grows with you.
"The cleverlohn team was then able to tell us exactly what information was missing and what we needed to provide. The team was truly great — the support from our personal contacts was especially valuable."
Linda Strauch
People Culture Manager, spized
Key takeaways: Payroll requirements by company size
Small businesses need speed and security. Growing businesses need a solution that handles integrations. Mid-sized companies need a reliable partner to reduce complexity. cleverlohn covers all three phases.
Micro-enterprises (1–10 employees)
Payroll for SMEs: get started simply
- Dedicated payroll specialist as your contact for questions
- Reliably prevent errors in social security and payroll tax
- Fixed monthly process, no effort for you
Growing Businesses (11–40 Employees)
SME Payroll: Scale smoothly
- Financial accounting integration without manual transfer
- Centrally manage master data, absences, and time tracking
- Always the same contact person, even as your team grows
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Payroll for medium-sized businesses: structured outsourcing
- Professionally manage more complex payroll structures
- Draft payrolls before finalization, digital approval process
- All reports and certificates handled by cleverlohn
Large companies (100+ employees)
Payroll for large companies: reliably at scale
- Process high payroll volumes without compromising quality
- Complete reporting obligations and certificates handled centrally by cleverlohn
- Scalable pricing starting from €13 per payslip
Payroll in Transition: SMEs vs. large enterprises
Many businesses start with a simple model: the tax advisor handles payroll, or someone in the office takes care of it alongside other duties. This works up to a certain point.
The Problem for Small Businesses:
From the second or third employee onwards, the effort noticeably increases: sick leave, parental leave, fluctuating hours, mini-job limits. Managing this without expertise risks back payments, fines, and disgruntled staff.
The Problem with Growth:
With 15 to 50 employees, the provisional setup breaks down. Data is scattered across different tools, the tax advisor doesn't have time for monthly queries, and hiring a dedicated payroll accountant isn't yet cost-effective. This is precisely where the integration dilemma arises.
The Integration Dilemma: Time tracking in Tool A, master data in Tool B, payroll handled by the accounting firm, financial accounting entries done manually. This costs hours per month and leads to errors.
The Problem in Mid-Sized Companies
Businesses with 50 to 100 employees struggle with system silos: notifications aren't automated, approval processes are unclear, and there's a lack of overview. An external service provider without a suitable system won't solve this.
These four problems almost all medium-sized companies experience with payroll
Manual Overhead
Manually consolidating data from time tracking, HR tools, and accounting costs your team hours it doesn't have. And every mistake means starting over.
Missing interfaces
Payroll software that doesn't communicate with financial accounting creates duplicate work. For medium and larger businesses, this adds up to a real risk factor.
No dedicated contact person
With law firms and large providers, the case worker constantly changes. Anyone who has to explain the company's structure from scratch every time loses time and patience.
Lack of legal certainty
Payroll tax, social security law, and reporting obligations change regularly. If handled internally as a secondary task, errors are often only discovered when they become costly.
The cleverlohn principle: Platform and personal support in one system
cleverlohn doesn't separate software and service. They go hand in hand. You get an HR platform that centrally stores all relevant data, and a dedicated payroll manager who reliably processes your payroll every month.
The Platform
- Master Data Management: All employee data in one place, always up-to-date
- Time Tracking & Absences: Vacation, sickness, overtime directly in the system
- Draft Payroll: Check the payroll before finalization, errors are detected early
- Digital Approval Process: No endless faxing, no email chains
- Document Management: Payslips, contracts, and certificates centrally accessible
The Service
- Dedicated Payroll Manager: The same person who knows your business, every month
- Monthly payroll: Fully prepared, checked, and submitted
- All filings completed: Contribution statements, annual declarations, A1, AAG, and more
Payroll software for SMEs and mid-sized companies: These criteria are key
Anyone looking for payroll software for a growing business is quickly overwhelmed with options. Pure software solutions simply shift the workload back to your company. Large providers are designed for corporations and are oversized for smaller businesses. What really matters:
Checklist 1: System Integration
- Integration with Financial Accounting
- Interfaces to Time Tracking and HR Data
- Data flow between Payroll and Accounting
Checklist 2: Service Quality
- Dedicated contact person, no ticket system
- Proactive communication regarding legal changes
- Draft billing for quality assurance before finalization
Checklist 3: Scalability
- Pricing model that scales with the number of employees, seamlessly
- Onboarding for new employees without changing systems
- Support for more complex payroll structures for more than 40 employees
Transparent Pricing for SMEs and mid-sized companies: you only pay for what you need
With cleverlohn, you pay per payslip per month. No flat fees, no hidden costs. The model scales with your company.
Team size | Price per employee/month |
|---|---|
1–5 employees 5–15 employees 16–40 employees 41–99 employees 100+ employees | from €25 from €16 from €15.50 from €15 from €12.50 |
A one-time company setup fee of €30 applies, plus €15 per employee. Actual terms may vary by industry. For a specific price tailored to your business, we recommend a brief consultation.
What others say Companies.
500+ companies have outsourced their payroll and haven't regretted it since.
“I would recommend cleverlohn to everyone, especially startups and scale-ups. There's simply no downside to improving and digitizing this service. It saves time, costs, and stress.”
Matteo Benedetti
Founder, Debtist
"We've had a great experience with cleverlohn for over half a year now. Always punctual and accurate payslips, immediate help from the team with any questions, and easy digital access to all information allow us more time for strategic HR matters."
Marten Pieper
lexthub
"More than satisfied to have finally found a solution for payroll. Response time is always within minutes, and they're ready with the right answers for various cases and concerns. Keep up the great work!"
Niklas Rotter
Fahrwerk GzR
"cleverlohn's concept was crucial for us – young, dynamic, and digital. This approach convinced us because we were always looking for a clean, digital solution. We are happy with the decision to outsource this."
Moritz Kühl
Managing Director, KNH
"We highly value cleverlohn's commitment and our personal payroll accountant, and we're glad that we finally have someone who truly knows what they're doing."
Linda Strauch
People Culture Manager, spized
Frequently Asked Questions
for payroll services for SMEs and mid-sized businesses
At what number of employees does cleverlohn become worthwhile?
cleverlohn makes sense from the very first employee. Especially in the initial phase, most errors occur because social security notifications and payroll taxes are prone to mistakes without expert knowledge. The sooner a clean process is established, the fewer corrections will be needed later.
How does the monthly process work?
You maintain master data and transactional data in the HR platform. Your payroll manager creates the preliminary payroll, you approve it digitally, and the final payroll, including all reports, is submitted on time. Everything is centrally documented for you.
What happens if my company grows?
Nothing you need to organize yourself. The pricing model scales automatically with the number of employees. Your payroll manager remains the same and is familiar with your company's evolving structure.
How long does it take to get started?
The setup usually takes a few days. After a brief onboarding call, importing employee data, and setting up your preferences, the first payroll run can begin.
What integrations are possible?
cleverlohn is connected to common financial accounting and HR systems, including DATEV, Agenda, Personio, Lexware, and Addison. If needed, we also integrate industry-specific tools, such as gastromatic for the hospitality sector. If you're unsure whether your setup is compatible, please feel free to contact us.
Can I test cleverlohn first?
Yes. You can explore the platform yourself in a demo and click through it with us. This will give you a realistic feel for how cleverlohn works day-to-day before you make a decision.
Payroll that runs completely seamless.
We'll show you how.
Book an appointment now! Free, no obligation, 30 minutes.
